1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to luggage, especially travel luggage, and in particular to luggage having a low-profile clothes hanger bracket capable of holding wire or wooden (suit) hangers.
2. The Related Art
It is well known in luggage items to provide brackets of various designs for holding clothes carried on hangers, e.g., suits or dresses. Such prior art brackets, however, have not been entirely satisfactory, particularly for small, lightweight towable or carry-on bags. The prior brackets have tended to be overly large and obtrusive, or to be incompatible with certain types of commonly used hangers, e.g. wooden suit hangers, or even to require the use of specially designed hangers. It is frequently necessary with prior art brackets, for example, for clothing to be transferred from the conventional hangers used in closets to other or special hangers in order to hang in the luggage item.
Accordingly, a need exists for a lightweight, compact versatile clothes hanger bracket for luggage items that overcomes the foregoing disadvantages of the prior art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a low-profile clothes hanger bracket for a luggage item, which bracket is useful with both commonly available wire or wooden hangers, so as to allow clothing to be packed directly from the closet, i.e., without transfer to another hanger.
These and other objects of the invention are attained by the provision of a hanger bracket having a base member secured to a wall panel or member of a luggage item and including at least one, and preferably two, hook members. The hook(s) member extends generally perpendicularly from the base member, then curves to extend along the base member in spaced relation thereto, and terminates in a free end. The spacing between the base member and the opposed portion of the hook member is preferably such that only a single clothes hanger, i.e., the hook portion of the coat hanger, will fit between the hook and the base member. This advantageously provides a low, flat profile for the clothes hanger bracket. On the other hand, the length of the second hook portion in the direction along the base member may be sufficient to hold two or more clothes hangers in stacked relation.
A resilient detent member may be provided on the base member to cooperate with the opposed hook portion to capture a coat hanger in the bracket. The free end of each hook portion preferably flares away from the base member to facilitate entry of a clothes hanger into the space between the second hook portion and the base member.
For economy and ease of manufacture, the clothes hanger bracket is preferably a one-piece molded plastic component.